you'll be mine and i'll be yours
by shaniatwains
Summary: "I don't know how much time we have left," she told him. She moved closer, her eyes gleaming, her voice soft. "I just know I want to spend as much time as I can with you."
1. Chapter 1

hullo mtv welcome 2 my krib

no but this is my new thing where i post new things (tbh what kind of a writer am i) every once in a while.

they will be small (and sometimes not small) drabbles of random scenes of lucy/wyatt. sometimes it'll be canon and sometimes it'll be au but i'll say it's AU when i post it. (i mean it'll be obvious too at some point but anyways)

ok here we go...

* * *

"Jess," he breathed, sinking down on the grass. "I'm sorry I haven't been here in a while. Life's been crazy."

He glanced behind him.

"But it's better now. I'm not depressed or angry anymore. Especially since your killer has been brought to justice." He paused for a few minutes, silent.

"I met someone," he finally said, "she's great. She's smart. The smartest person I ever met, I swear." He smirked, "and I don't wanna sound cheesy because I know you hate that, but she really… saved me." He hesitated, almost uncomfortable. "She was the light that brought me out of the darkness, if I'm being honest with myself."

Staring down at his shoes, his arms hanging over his knees, he said: "I - I want you to meet her. So you know that I'll - I'm ok." He paused again, then looked up at the headstone that read his wife's engraved name.

Looking behind him again, he held his hand out. "Lucy."

She had been standing back as he talked. She knew how important it was for him to have this time alone. But then he called her name, gesturing for her to join him. She took his hand and sat next to him in the grass. She stretched her legs out in front of her, admiring the flowers Wyatt had decided to pick out.

She looked to Wyatt when he started speaking.

"I wanted her to meet you. Well, you know what I mean," he shrugged sheepishly.

She placed her hand on his arm, nodding, "I understand, Wyatt."

Lucy sat next to him, silent and still, as his thoughts kept him occupied.

"Thank you for coming," he told her sincerely, turning to her.

She shook her head, looping her arm around his and leaning her head against his shoulder. "Of course," she whispered.

"It means a lot to me that -you know," he swallowed nervously, "that the woman I loved can know that the woman I love _now_ is taking care of me."

She smiled softly at him, nudging him with her nose. "You take care of me too."

Wyatt looked at her adoringly, so happy to have someone accept and love him for who he was. "Really, Lucy. You changed my life. I never imagined that I'd be chosen to go _time traveling_ , of all things. And after losing Jessica, I didn't think I could ever have hope or love again. And then I met you." She peered up at him from her perch on his shoulder when she noticed his voice began to get emotional. "I just - you make me happy."

Seeing his eyes fill with tears of past pain and regrets touched her so much she almost began to cry herself. Reaching up, she pressed her lips to his temple and his eyes closed in contentment, their arms still entwined. When she pulled away, he wrapped his arm around her, holding her close. She leaned into him and sighed happily as they continued to relax under the slowly setting sun, the slight breeze keeping them cool.

"Hi Jessica," Lucy suddenly whispered to the headstone, making Wyatt look at her curiously. "I'm Lucy."

She took a deep breath. "I just wanted to say, um…thank you." Wyatt furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. _Thank you?_

"Thank you for," Lucy continued and hesitated, not wanting to say the wrong thing, "thank you for loving Wyatt. And for helping shape him into the man he is now." Wyatt felt his heart expand in his chest at her words and he looked at her with all the love he had in his eyes and she returned his gaze. "He is fiercely loyal to the people he loves and he has the kindest heart I've ever had the joy of witnessing."

Wyatt had loved Jessica to the moon and back. He had cherished and appreciated her in a way that only a man in love can do. She was his wife and then she wasn't anymore. She was gone. Now he could let her be a happy memory instead of one that made him ache with regret.

When they got up to leave a few minutes later, brushing the grass off their clothes, Lucy shyly thanked Wyatt for bringing her to meet Jessica.

"It means a lot to me," she said with a small smile of gratitude, "I know how special she was to you."

Wyatt shook his head, swinging their joined hands back and forth as they walked to his car. "You know how much _you_ mean to me?"

Lucy looked down, blushing, and she glanced back up at him, beaming, her eyes shining. Despite their admitted feelings toward each other, Lucy still sometimes doubted Wyatt understood her feelings for him. Since the moment she saw him smirk at her, since they moment they first kissed as an act, since the moment they hugged because he didn't want to say goodbye, since the moment he asked her if he could kiss her ( _"a real kiss this time" he had said_ ) she had known she loved him with every fiber of her being.

She swung his arm around her shoulder, keeping a tight hold on his hand. "I might have an idea."

* * *

stick around for more, my friends. and please, let me know how you feel. it validates my very existence.


	2. Chapter 2

hello hello it's ya gurl back at it with a new chapter  
just a lil reminder that these chapters _will_ be out of order and sometimes they will be either canon or au

* * *

The room was black when he woke. The only light he could see was the sliver of moonlight peeking through the curtains. His eyes examined the room, trying to figure out where exactly he was. When he realized he couldn't get up, he had seen the machines next to him, the IV in his arm.

He seethed in pain when trying to move his left arm, then noticed it was broken. _Jesus, what happened to him?_

His mind tried to remember the events that led him here. As he sat there deep in thought, he was startled to hear a rustling coming from a corner of the room.

There, in too small of a chair, was a sleeping Lucy Preston.

The rustling sound had been her twisting around trying to find a more comfortable position. He leaned back against the pillow behind him, watching her sleep. He wanted to wake her and ask her what the hell happened but she looked adorable in her frustration to get comfortable. The last thing he had remembered was his conversation with her. He remembered their playful banter. He remembered her sincere eyes when she apologized for him not being able to save Jessica. He remembered her playful smile when he told her he'd help her get her sister back. He remembered she had one more thing to do and she needed an hour.

He remembered after an hour and a half went by, something was wrong.

And as he got into his car to drive over to her house, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

And… and that was the last thing he remembered.

Now he had to wake her. He didn't want to, but she looked restless anyway, a small pucker of irritation between her brows.

"Lucy," he whispered, then immediately cleared his throat, surprised at how dry it was.

How long had he been here?

"Lucy," he said again, this time more clear, but still strained. He needed water.

She jerked awake, nearly falling off the chair at the noise. Her eyes flickered over to his bed and she was at his side in a second.

"You're up," she said with relief.

Then her eyes widened. He silently watched as she swiftly crossed the room again and dug in a bag for a bottle of water.

It was when he took a sip of the water that he detected the cuts and scrapes on his arms and hands.

Watching as he slowly sipped the water, she hovered over him, her hands itching to touch him but keeping to themselves.

"How long have I been here?" he asked first after quenching his parched throat, only now feeling his body throb and pang as he fidgeted on the hospital bed.

"Three days," Lucy answered him, "you have a mild concussion."

Three _days_? He had been asleep for three entire days?

He didn't know how long it had been since he had been in the hospital but his whole body ached and his head pounded with harsh beats, making him dizzy.

"Do you remember how you got here, Wyatt?" she asked him and he was confused as to why she was acting cautious around him.

"I was in a car accident, right?" he asked, continuing at her nod, "but I don't remember how it happened."

She looked at him, almost sadly. Then she reached for the button on his left."I should call your nurse."

"No, wait," he stopped her. He was really starting to worry about the strange way she was acting around him. "What's wrong?"

At the face she made, he added: "besides the obvious, I mean."

She didn't say anything again. He watched with concern as her eyes darted about the room, as if searching for something, her eyebrows drawn together in deep thought.

He remembered again that she hadn't returned to Mason Industries.

"What is it?" he tried to push further.

She immediately shook her head. "We'll talk later. Right now we need to get your nurse."

She moved again to push the button and wouldn't look at him.

He kept slowly realizing things and he observed silently that Lucy was still in the same clothes she had hugged him, flirted with him, smiled at him in.

"You've been here for three days?"

When she looked away sheepishly he almost smiled. Everything in him ached terribly but his heart skipped a beat at her light blush.

"I-" she began, then stopped. "Agent Christopher offered to bring me clothes and Rufus did too but they're both busy and I didn't want to bother them."

That's right, Wyatt remembered, Jiya was still recovering and Agent Christopher still had hundreds of Rittenhouse members to identify.

"Do you remember who I am?" she suddenly asked, her eyes boring into his.

Why on God's green earth would she ask him that?

"Of course I do," he said, mildly irritated, "you're Lucy."

He was even more confused by her look of relief.

"Why didn't you just call your mom?" he wondered.

Lucy looked uncomfortable again, her arms crossing in front of her. "She's not an option right now."

What the hell had happened in three days?

Had he forgotten who she was? And if he did, why couldn't he remember that he forgot?

Before he could ask her though, a nurse came in. The nurse asked him question after question, checking his vitals and blood pressure and apparently, the eleven stitches on the side of his head. But the entire time while the nurse checked over things, asking him how much pain he was in and whatnot, his eyes kept traveling back to Lucy, who was on his other side, patiently watching as the nurse flitted about the room.

When she finally left after telling him the doctor would be there in a few hours, Lucy spoke. "I'm glad you're going to be okay." Her voice was almost lower than a whisper.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" he asked.

She straightened, knowing that with a mild concussion comes some memory loss. "I was hoping you'd remember that part. All I know is I was talking to my-my mother and Agent Christopher called me and told me you had been in an accident."

At her irked expression, he backed away from the subject, noticing her discomfort.

He was frustrated at the not knowing how he got here and he was frustrated at her vagueness. But as he watched her quietly examine the charts on the wall in his room, as if she understood them, he felt calm.

When he had first gotten shot in 1865, there was no one there for him in the Mason Industries makeshift hospital room. Now, he had Lucy. Lucy, who was so intelligent, so kind hearted, so strong yet fragile at the same time. He knew she cared a great deal for him. And he had already realized that she meant a lot to him too. Much more than she probably knew, more than he probably knew, even. Her voice and face was always softer around him. It was like that with Rufus too but he could tell a difference with him. He could tell because he also looked at Lucy with a softer face, softer eyes.

He had been so close to revealing his feelings for her, as she had been with him. One thing that stopped him was fear. He had gotten much too attached much too quickly.

Lucy slowly walked the room and he could tell she was avoiding something.

Him?

"Lucy," he called, making her look up. "What happened with your mother?" But she ignored his question again, choosing instead to change the topic.

"You called me Jessica."

"What?"

"When I came in," she explained, "the doctor said he gave you pain medication and you were in and out of it for two days. When I-" she paused, unsure if she should go on but he waited. "I had my hand on your forehead to check if you were warm," she continued, "and you said her name."

She waited for his reaction but he stayed still as a statue.

"I know you were on the medication and you were confused - it just…" she shook her head and let out a breath, closing her eyes. "I don't know."

She didn't want to admit that it had stung a little, considering the last time she saw him he had told her he was ready to move on. _With her?_

He did realize the irony of her repeating his earlier words, repressing what she really wished to say.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"No, don't apologize. I understand."

She was always so understanding and kind to him. He appreciated that but he also wondered if it ever bothered her. Because sometimes it bothered _him_ that he wasn't able to let go of his dead wife. Sometimes it bothered him that a part of him would still hold on to that thin strand of hope. But he noticed that the closer he and Lucy got, the less painful it was.

He crossed his arms too. "I wish I understood how I ended up here. Or understood why you won't tell me what's wrong."

At her look, he asked, "does it bother you when I mention Jessica?"

"No!" she was quick to reassure him.

When she looked aggravated yet again, arms still crossed defiantly, he just raised his eyebrows.

"It's just - you _just_ told me you can't lose me again."

He nodded, encouraging her to go on.

"Well…after I heard you got hurt and-and you looked so... _not like you_." _Weak,_ he thought to himself. Her eyes were shining, her voice thick with tears that she wouldn't let fall. "It had only occurred to me _then_ when I saw you," she swallowed, "what if _I_ lost _you_?"

Wyatt could almost feel his heart swell twice its normal size at her words. "You didn't lose me, Lucy. Look. I'm right here."

"I know," she said and swiped under her eye before any tears could form. "I feel so _angry_." she told him with gritted teeth, "even after everything that happened when we found my grandfather I still feel like my whole life is falling apart."

Wyatt suddenly felt guilty. "I'm sorry we haven't gotten your sister back. Now I've made you wait even longer. You should just go with Rufus. Don't worry about me, I'll be alright."

"I don't want to go without you." Lucy said honestly, her face blank now, her irritation gone.

"You're going to have to," he grimaced, not liking her being without him either. Even if they weren't chasing a killer this time, traveling back to the past could have unforeseen dangerous circumstances.

"No, Wyatt. Agent Christopher will let us go once you get better." She argued.

His injuries and the past few days began to catch up with him and he responded hotly to her. "Just go do it Lucy! It's all you've wanted to do since we started this mess!"

At his sudden angry tone, she drew back, hurt. He had never really spoken to her that way before. She knew he was probably just overwhelmed but she was too and because she was, she also overreacted.

"I think I should go," she whispered then, frowning.

Wyatt sighed then nodded.

Lucy wanted to cry. Everything in the past few months had taken such a toll on all of them. She was exhausted.

She hadn't expected him to let her leave so easily but he agreed with her. Maybe he just needed time to himself, she thought.

"I don't want you to go," he spoke as she walked toward the door after gathering her things.

She turned to him, holding her arms out, her bag hanging from her hand. "Then why did you ask me to leave?"

"Because," Wyatt answered, "you look exhausted. You've been here for three days and you haven't taken care of yourself. Go home. Get some sleep."

Did she really look that bad? She looked down at her attire. She hadn't really looked in a mirror lately. She looked at Wyatt, afraid to leave him alone. What if he needed something?

"It's ok," he assured her with a small smile though now his head was _killing_ him. "Go."

"I'll be back tomorrow," she told him and he didn't bother arguing.

* * *

Letting herself in with the key he had left hidden in a plant for her and Rufus only, Lucy let herself into Wyatt's apartment.

It was raining hard outside and Lucy was almost completely soaked, her hoodie keeping her head dry but she had thick hair so a lot of it had gotten wet, along with her jeans and squeaky sneakers.

Seeing Wyatt standing up, squinting to read a piece of mail he had brought in earlier that morning, Lucy huffed, setting her purse and bags of groceries on the floor, making him look up at her in slight amusement in her displeasure.

"You're supposed to be in bed!" she scolded him.

"Mom, I'm just paying bills," he held the envelope up for her to see, his half smirk making her heart skip a beat.

"No strenuous activity, remember?" she threw her hands up dramatically, "the doctor said!"

"I hardly count opening the mail strenuous," he scoffed.

"Yeah but going to _get_ the mail is," she countered, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows, attempting to look stern.

Wyatt just laughed, continuing to sort through his mail.

Lucy pursed her lips, bending to pick up her purse. "Fine. If you want to take your concussion and broken arm as a joke, be my guest. Here's your groceries, I'm sure you can put them up yourself. I'm leaving."

At her serious tone, Wyatt looked back up as she turned to go. "Lucy," he called.

When she turned to him, he reasoned, "come on, it's raining like hell out there. Just stay till it calms down."

"You didn't seem to mind me going out earlier to get _your_ groceries," she sniffed, now realizing that she was shivering from being wet. All she wanted to do was get out of her clothes and into new ones and a large warm, fuzzy blanket.

"You offered and it wasn't raining yet," he countered.

As he came closer to her, Lucy's breath hitched in her throat but she rolled her eyes at him, trying to act like his close proximity didn't absolutely make her melt.

Wyatt lifted his good arm and when his fingertips touched her face gently Lucy could've sworn he could hear her heart beginning to thud loudly against her chest. His fingers lightly removed a wet strand of hair from her cheek. "You're so wet," he stated the obvious.

Lucy refrained from snorting a laugh at his words and when he realized what he said he blushed furiously. She decided she loved that pink color in his cheeks, having not seen it before.

"That definitely came out wrong," Wyatt said with a little laugh but when he saw she was smiling at him he was relieved. "I meant would you like to take a shower?"

 _Honestly_ , Lucy thought, the skin of her lip almost bleeding from biting too hard as she tried to hold in another laugh.

"God, I sound like such a moron," Wyatt exclaimed, now laughing loudly. "I _meant_ you can go take a shower, I'm sure I can find some clean clothes for you."

Lucy smiled again. She also decided she loved seeing him so flustered around _her_ for a change. "It's fine, you're cute when you're like that, you know?"

And before she could watch his reaction to her words, she slipped past him, heading to his kitchen after quickly grabbing some bags to put away in his pantry and refrigerator.

Lucy and Wyatt had flirted before but never so blatantly. It was normally a teasing flirting, playful. This time she was definitely reaching out, Wyatt noticed, and he liked it.

He followed her to the kitchen with what he would describe as a dopey smile but he secretly hoped she would find it somewhat endearing and helped her put away groceries.

And as they moved seamlessly around the small kitchen, putting things here and there, Lucy immediately catching on to how he organized, Wyatt couldn't have felt more comfortable with her than he did now. She fit in so perfectly, as if she had been here dozens of times when it fact it was maybe her third time here total. And the first time she had been there she hadn't even gone inside, only to drop him off. The second time she had come inside, only for a brief moment, and she had commented on a wallet sized photo he had of Jessica.

"She was beautiful," she had said quietly, shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"She was," he agreed.

He had been standing behind her and when she turned to look at him she had noticed he had that faraway look in his eyes again when thinking about his wife.

Now though, Wyatt thought, he was thinking of her and the way she looked. Her wet jeans clung to her shapely legs and her gray hoodie rose up, showing a strip of her flat stomach when she stretched up to reach a particular shelf to put cereal away.

"Okay," she sighed once she had put everything up, bringing him out of his thoughts, "all done. I'm going to take a shower now. Just leave the clothes outside the door please? Then go _back in bed._ "

Nodding obediently, he watched her walk away to his bathroom, wondering if she had always swayed her hips or if she was showing off for him?

Lucy felt so much better after a hot shower. But she had been in there too long now and the mirrors were so fogged up she couldn't even see her face. Opening the door a tiny crack, she tried to peek and see if Wyatt was still out there. When she didn't see him, she spotted the clothes he had left her on the floor and grabbed them, wanting to hurry and change and get out of that bathroom before she suffocated.

When she emerged from the bathroom finally, letting the door stay open, she finished towel drying her hair, her wet clothes folded neatly in her hands, the dirty towel in the other. She wished she had her hair dryer because when it dried naturally it was _really_ curly and a mess to deal with. But she had no choice and hopefully Wyatt wouldn't shrink away from it.

Then she mentally scolded herself for _worrying about what a boy may not like about me? Come on, Preston,_ she inwardly scoffed in disgust

She found him sitting in the kitchen. He didn't have a table and chairs to eat at, only a kitchen island/bar and three stools. Which made sense, she figured, since it was really only him.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, not surprised he hadn't listened to her about resting like the doctor told him. "Also where do I put this?"

"Just stick it in the laundry room right there," he gestured with a simple nod of his head towards a small room across the kitchen. "I'll wash them later."

"No, _I'll_ do it," she told him, taking the pile of his mail away and shuffling them neatly before setting them down on the counter behind her. "And I'll do those for you too."

"You're going to pay my bills?" Wyatt smiled.

"With your credit card, sure," Lucy retorted. "Now what are you still doing out here?"

He shrugged helplessly, "I'm hungry."

Lucy blinked. "Oh, alright. I'll...make you something and then I'll go."

"Don't go," he implored, "stay. For dinner."

Lucy was pleased but tried not to show it. Why? She didn't know. "Okay. What do you want to eat?"

She desperately hoped it was something easy like a grilled cheese or maybe even cereal because Lucy sure as hell didn't know how to cook.

Wyatt shrugged again, "I just figured we'd get take out."

She could kiss him.

She didn't.

"Perfect!" she said excitedly, reaching into her purse she had left on the counter to get her phone. "Chinese? Greek? Mexican?"

"Chinese," he chose.

Good. That was her favorite food she loved to feel awful about later.

After she called and ordered their food, they had moved to his living room and sat on the couch, a safe distance between them, to watch pointless tv.

Lucy's phone rang again and she saw it was her mother. When she noticed Wyatt had snuck a peek too, she didn't want him to think anything was wrong so she answered it, signaling to him that she would go down the hall to talk on the phone.

"Hello," Lucy greeted with absolutely no enthusiasm.

"Lucy," her mother's voice filled her ear. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you for five days! I've been calling and calling! This is the second time you've left me hanging like this."

Lucy felt her blood begin to boil when she thought of why she hadn't spoken to her mother. " _Because,_ mom, you're one of them. And I don't feel okay with that."

"You're one of them too." Her mother reminded her quietly with none of the disgust or the shame that Lucy felt.

"How could you not tell me about this my whole life?" Lucy guessed now was the time to unleash all her rage. But quietly, so not to bring attention to herself. "I feel like I don't even know you at all."

"But you do, Lucy," her mother said, "I'm still the same mom you've always had. You haven't lost any knowledge or any experiences, you've only gained."

"What I _lost_ was my sister," Lucy said bitterly. "Not that you would even know."

"Now Lucy," her mother's voice was soft but stern, "you know with that attitude you'll only lose more. Please try to understand."

 _What?_

"What?" Lucy said, repeating her thoughts.

Her mother's words chilled her to her core.

"How is Wyatt doing? Is he better?"

"H-how did you know he's-" Lucy felt her hands begin to shake, her heart dropped down to her stomach and she felt like she could be sick right there in the middle of the hallway.

"Word gets around about things, dear," the voice on the phone said and Lucy listened to every syllable with bated breath, trying not to throw up. "You always have to be careful with what you say around people."

Lucy had never once spoken to her mother with such venom in her voice. Now, she felt like her earlier suspicions in the hospital room with Wyatt had been confirmed. They were being watched. "Did you-did _Rittenhouse_ put Wyatt in the hospital?"

"Honestly, I don't know," her mother answered, "but I wouldn't put it past them. They get what they need done when they need it done."

Why would they need that done?

"But you knew?" Lucy swallowed, her words harsh, "you _knew about this_? You _knew_ they could do things like this and you still are a part of it?"

"Lucy," she began but Lucy had already hung up before her mother could say any more. She wanted to hurl her phone against the wall, shattering it to pieces.

Then she wanted to cry. So she did. The tears slowly streamed down her face and by the time she made it back to the living room her vision was blurry.

Wyatt turned his head when he heard her walk back to the room and when he saw she was crying stood up so fast he was surprised he didn't get whiplash, which the doctor told him could happen if he moved too much.

"Lucy!"

When he said her name she let out a small sob, walking into him and pressing her face against his neck, both of her hands on her mouth to stifle the sounds. Her shoulders began to shake with her crying as he wrapped his good arm around her, her hair tickling his chin.

Wyatt just stood there, wishing to God he could have use for his other arm now so he could hold her tighter. He had never seen her cry this much before. He had never seen her this devastated before.

She mumbled something and Wyatt strained to hear but he couldn't tell with her hands on her mouth and her forehead leaning on him.

"What was that?" he asked her.

She pushed back a little to say it again. "It's my fault."

"What's your fault?" he began to panic. "Who was that on the phone, what happened?"

Lucy tried to calm down enough to explain to him. "It's my fault you were in that car accident."

Wyatt froze in shock. What, how? Was she the car that hit him? But no, that wasn't possible because she had no injuries. Pulling away from her, she started to cry again when he placed his hand on her shoulder, facing her to him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Rittenhouse," Lucy answered with a sniffle. "It was them. They were all over it. I don't know why they wanted to hurt you I swear to _God,_ Wyatt, I-"

"Wait wait," he stopped her, "what does that have to do with you?"

She went quiet now. She was afraid to tell him. What if he hated her then? What if he couldn't trust her anymore?

"Tell me, please. No more secrets," Wyatt begged.

Lucy looked up at him through blurry eyes, "my mom's a member."

 _Jesus,_ Wyatt thought.

Shaking his head in disbelief, she watched as he cursed loudly, flinching when he winced at the pain in his arm.

His head was pounding again. "And all this time, all your life," Wyatt instigated, "you never knew?"

At the small shake of her head, Wyatt sighed, pulling her to him again which she was grateful for. She rested her head in his neck, the tears flowing once again at his gentleness.

"I'm _so_ sorry, Lucy," he murmured to her, his good hand now stroking the back of her head and she cried into him, upset at the state her life was in yet thankful he didn't seem to be angry at her at all. In fact, he reacted to that news like he had when she told him about her real father. Instead of what it meant, he focused on how it made her _feel._ Lucy knew her life was in shambles and she didn't know how she was going to ever get it together, but in this moment… in this moment. In this moment she stood here, on the steady ground in her unsteady world, with strong arms (well, one) and a strong chest and a strong heartbeat, she knew.

Lucy lifted her head from her spot on his shoulder and looked at him with her eyes full of tears, her face now sticky with the tears she had cried, she choked out, "I love you."

Wyatt's response was so _Wyatt._ Which she loved.

"I know."

His face was hard at the reason for her upset, but his eyes. His eyes brightened at her confession and his heart, well. He could feel it beating out of his chest.

He knew they should probably be doing something, calling someone, _talking_ about what she had just told him about her mother but…

Wyatt's hand flew to her hair, which was now curling all around, making her look so young, like a small girl and the tears on her face made him want to protect her from the whole world. "I like your hair like this," he said, his fingers twisting with her locks.

It felt nice but Lucy was internally freaking out about her confessing her love for him. She couldn't help it, it just _came out._ He didn't seem to be freaked out though, she observed as he played with her hair, but she still couldn't tell what he was feeling.

His hand stopped the motion in her hair and he pulled it back to place it on her cheek, rubbing his thumb under her eye. His eyes looked into hers and they were so bright she felt she could fall into them.

"Can I kiss you?"

Lucy nodded mutely, bringing her hand up to touch his and he moved closer, his bottom lip touching hers first and then he was kissing her fully. His mouth was so sweet, so soft, just like she remembered. Her eyes fluttered closed and she made the move to open his mouth with her tongue. He let out a small moan at the feeling of her tongue tangling with his and she felt something inside her jump like a tiny jolt of energy.

Before she could dare make another move though, she found herself pressing too hard against him and he swiftly pulled back to let out a yelp and then she realized that she had been squeezing his bad arm.

"Oh my God, Wyatt, I'm sorry!" she apologized hysterically.

He just waved her off, "it's fine, it only hurt for half a second. I'm fine."

She couldn't tell if he was lying to her or not but she apologized again.

"Lucy," Wyatt whispered, and he leaned into her. She prepared to kiss him but he just pressed his forehead against hers, his lips close, but not touching. "I think I'm falling in love with you."

Lucy's tears were back in her eyes, making them shimmer and the tiny sigh she breathed made him smile. She reached up to caress his face and he remembered the first time she had done that, with Bonnie and Clyde, when he felt his heart stop. It was the same feeling this time only he knew what his feelings about her really were and there was no confusion.

All those looks they had shared, the near death experiences they've escaped. It brought them closer and closer the more they learned about one another. Lucy learning that he lost his wife and blamed himself for it. Learning that he had been the lone survivor in a mission. And Wyatt had learned that Lucy had a real fear of tight spaces. He learned that she never really wanted to be a history teacher, but wanted to be a singer. It was in the small moments, the way they showed their love for each other. It was simple at first, their forced partnership blooming into friendship and into the love territory neither of them had really thought would happen. It was in the way he helped buckle her up in the Lifeboat. It was in the way she had reassured him time and time again how much she, they, needed him. It was in the way he still called her ma'am, despite her protests. It was in the way she understood him like no one else, understood his pain and regrets and self loathing ways, and still accepted him in spite of it. He wasn't sure what he did to deserve someone so kind and caring after all the bad he had done but he decided he should take the risk anyway. He was pretty sure she would be worth it.

He kissed her again and she sighed into his mouth, her arms going around him slowly, mindful of his injured arm. They slowly got back into their groove again, slow kisses and even slower caresses. Lucy moved her hand under his shirt, moving up his smooth chest, her other hand keeping a hold on the back of his neck. Her lips were silky and cool and he couldn't get enough of her mouth but he was starting to feel uncomfortable standing in his gym shorts now and he tried to lead her to his room.

She followed, taking a break from his mouth, her face red with her unbridled passion, her mouth swollen from his intense kisses. She grabbed his hand and followed him to his room where he offered her to sit on his bed. He sat next to her and she instantly had her hand back on his face, pulling his lips to hers again and he obliged, using his good arm to trace the hem of the shirt he had given her. It was obviously much too large, coming down to her knees, but he loved to see her wear it.

When she felt his hand graze the bottom of her stomach, the jump of excitement in her belly was a full on raging fire now and she promptly pulled back to remove his shirt off her, her pale pink and lacy bra making his eyes widen. He reached out to touch the skin of her stomach and she giggled breathlessly at the feel of his fingers brushing across her soft skin.

He now tried to start taking his own shirt off, not doing it as quickly as she had, as he only had one arm but the sleeve got stuck on his cast and when he groaned in frustration, she whispered his name, but he didn't hear in his annoyance.

"Wyatt," she said again, this time getting his attention.

"Hmm?" he asked, his hand still struggling to get the shirt completely off.

She helped him get it off but instead of kissing him like he wanted to continue doing, she grabbed his face with her hands so he could look directly at her.

"I don't want to do this now," she told him with that soft voice she always had with him.

"You don't?" he asked in surprise as he gazed at her with her shirt off, a large pair of shorts also hanging loosely on her hips.

"I mean I _do,_ " she reassured, "but I don't want to be doing this when you feel this way. I want to wait until you get better."

"But I am better," he weakly argued, knowing it was a lost cause. He just now acknowledged that his headache didn't simply go away when she kissed him, the dull pounding just lessened for the time being.

"You're not," she said with a small grin, her slender fingers running along his face, "but it's okay. I'm just happy to be with you."

"Me too."

She smiled at him then, earlier tears forgotten as her smile grew wider when he looked at her in that way, that _in love with you_ way she had only ever dreamed about.

Lucy then looked back at the head of the bed, they had only gotten to the foot of it and she climbed to the pillows, lifting the blanket up and patting the space next to her.

He slowly crawled in there with her and didn't protest or flinch when she carefully laid against him, her back to his chest, her head leaning on his neck and chin. She still wore a smile on her face and he nudged her. "What are you so smiley about?"

She bit her lip, almost embarrassed to be caught smiling like a schoolgirl with a crush. But she told him the truth. "I'm just _happy_ that even though my entire life is beyond a mess right now that you're the person I can count on." She twisted slightly to look at his face. "My person, you know?"

"Yeah, " he agreed softly, his lips quirking upward, "you're my person."

They both looked up toward the living room when they heard the doorbell.

"Did we forget about the food?" Lucy asked with a laugh, reaching to slip his shirt back on. She scrambled out of the bed to go get money from her purse when Wyatt stopped her.

"Use this," he held out a credit card to her.

"But you have bills to pay," she joked.

He rolled his eyes at her, "take this."

"I'm perfectly capable of paying it myself," Lucy told him.

"I know," Wyatt said as she took his card, "just think of it as a really sad first date.

And bring the food back here."

She nodded, turning back to answer the door. The small smile that was etched on her face grew to a wide grin and her stomach did flips as she recalled the events from just minutes ago. He kissed her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him and he had said he _loved_ her. Lucy hadn't been sure where exactly their relationship was ever going she just knew that since their talk about him not leaving for Pendleton so soon that there was a possibility that _she_ was a possibility. This thrilled her and once again she felt the butterflies floating in her stomach that she always felt when he got closer to her.

Everything might have been slowly falling to pieces around her even more now since her mother told her the truth, but at least she has Wyatt and Rufus, the two people she could truly trust, even with her own life. She knew her and Wyatt had to tell Rufus about the latest developments in this mess when he came to visit tomorrow and she knew that she needed to figure out where she was going to _go_ if she no longer wanted to stay in her mom's house. And she needed to figure out if it was even possible to get her sister back now. And they needed to figure out why the hell Rittenhouse decided to put Wyatt's life in danger. Her head spun with all the huge problems they had to eventually face but as she walked back into Wyatt's room, her hands holding bags of their ordered food, she smiled again at the sight of him waiting for her. His hair mussed up from her fingers running through it and his mouth pulled up into her favorite smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners, he sat there on the bed comfortably, as if they did this all the time. The feeling of home and of comfort rushed through and warmed her body, setting her at ease as she lowered to the mattress, picking out containers and handing him his food but not before blushing prettily as he leaned over to peck her cheek, his hand brushing hers.

Yes, things may be bad in their lives right now, but this moment? It was perfect.


	3. Chapter 3

HEY HEY HEY. Betcha thought I gave this story up. I didn't! I just had a rough few months with a difficult job, got out of that job, was unemployed for two weeks, got a new job, began to take care of my second niece along with my first whom I had already been taking care of AND started school. So all that and add a horrific case of writer's block and whaddya get? Total frustration and hopelessness. If you're a writer or a human being in general, you've probably experienced this. Anyway, I haven't given up on this story and hopefully these words will intrigue you into wanting more. I finally got my muse back!

Few things to know about this chapter: 1. I usually cringe when someone sings in a story and the lyrics are posted. Well. Here I am. Making myself cringe. I am a hypocringe. 2. I am aware that the song chosen is obviously not from the 70s. But it's what jumpstarted the whole idea so let's just pretend it did exist. Thank u Sara Bareilles. 3. Apologizing in advance for any grammar or continuity error in this that I or my usual editor did not catch. This has been in the works for about 6 months. 4. A few people have been asking me when the M rated part of the story will be happening and it _will_ just not quite yet :)

* * *

 _AU. 1977. Carmel, California._

Wyatt never wanted to change jobs. He liked where he was at. It had taken him months to adjust and just when he was finally getting used to the area and the people, his commanding officer pulled the rug out from underneath him again. And what kind of mission took place in Carmel anyway? _Undercover missions_ , a voice in his head reminded him.

He wasn't sure exactly what this particular job entailed but he would do his best. The better he performed, the quicker he could leave. As he dropped the last box on the floor with a thud, Wyatt put his hands on his hips, glancing around for the box labeled _kitchen_.

Then he remembered he didn't have food in the place yet.

Sighing, he grabbed his car keys and left the apartment.

* * *

When Wyatt got to his new workplace the next night, he was almost impressed. It was pretty ostentatious, for a small town like this, to say the least. The lighting was dim, the perfect mood setting for a lounge/bar. The walls were adorned with glowing blue lights, illuminating the large selection of alcohol at the bar. Tables were scattered around the spacious room, booths and chairs covered in black satin patterns. Businessmen mainly occupied the seats, some taking drinks after a long day at work, some actually conducting business meetings.

Either way, a lot of suits, Wyatt thought as his eyes grazed the place. The bar was full of people, he noticed. Even more businessmen, only these were drunkenly trying to pick up women. Some women appreciated the attention and some scoffed in disgust at the obviously married men looking to cheat on his wife.

There was also a small stage toward the front of the place, a grand piano to the far right. Entertainment too? Snazzy place.

Sighing, Wyatt made his way to the bar, squeezing through a clearly intoxicated man trying to pick up a woman, who was rolling her eyes. She was probably grateful that he got in the the middle of them.

"Excuse me," Wyatt called to the busy bartender on the other side of the counter.

The man didn't turn to look at him, passing him quickly to get to another customer.

Wyatt tried to speak over the rambling voices. "Excuse me!" he shouted, getting the bartender's attention this time.

The man made his way toward him. "I'm sorry sir, what can I get you?"

"Nothing, can you point me to the manager's office?"

"Oh, are you our new bartender?" he asked with a relieved grin. "Thank God. I'm the only one they've got. They fired the last guy."

Wyatt shook his head, "no. I'm the new doorman."

When the bartender raised his eyebrows in surprise Wyatt almost chuckled.

"No offense, sir, but you don't look like one."

"Doesn't matter what you look like," Wyatt said, "as long as you get the job done."

The bartender shrugged at this.

"Hey can I order something or what?" An angry customer spat from across the bar.

The man began to move to him but not before pointing in the direction of the manager's office.

Nodding his thanks, Wyatt passed the stage on the right and walked into a long hallway, hearing voices coming from a room at the end.

Wyatt debated whether or not he should waltz into someone else's conversation.

Well, now that he was closer it sounded more like an argument.

"Lucy, you know that's not in your contract, now stop trying to negotiate with me."

"But I'm tired of singing these songs," a feminine voice said, "I don't feel anything when I sing them. If you just let me pick my own, I promise I can blow them out of the water!"

"It's not about impressing the audience, it's about them having a good time with you crooning in the background. No lights and fireworks, no 'blowing them out of the water.'" Her boss, Wyatt was assuming, told her. He hoped this man wouldn't also be his boss because he sounded like an ass. But he probably was.

Wyatt listened for the woman's response but it didn't come. He hesitated out in the hallway.

Should he go in?

Then, he heard the same man's voice, this time more kind. "Listen, Lucy. Let's be honest with each other here. This is a small bar in an even smaller town." Her boss continued to drone on and on as she was silent. "You know the odds of a talent agent ever seeing you out here are practically nonexistent. Broadway is unrealistic for someone like you."

Wyatt heard a sharp intake of breath and figured it was probably the woman he was speaking to.

"Don't be upset, I'm telling you this for your own good. Now, why don't you take the night off and go out with your friends?"

Hearing a resigned sigh, the woman replied with a quiet, "ok, Dad" and Wyatt was dumbfounded. Her boss was her _father_? And her father basically just told her she wasn't good for anything?

Sheesh, Wyatt thought of the man's harsh words to his own daughter. Though he could relate considering his own father once said something similar to him.

Suddenly, Wyatt found himself quickly dodging a moving figure. The woman was small, with dark hair and Wyatt could barely see her face, she ducked out of there so fast, almost knocking him over. She never even glanced back at him and he just stood there flabbergasted.

The man's booming voice brought him out of his stupor. "Ah, you must be our new addition!"

Wyatt turned to the man and took his offered hand, shaking it politely, though on the inside this man made him feel uneasy, especially after witnessing _that._

"Yes, sir. Wyatt Logan, sir."

The man's handshake was firm and powerful. "Glad to have you. I tell you, we've got rats coming into this place like they own it or something."

Wyatt gave him a fake smile. "Well, it's my job to make sure that doesn't happen anymore, sir."

"Mr. Cahill, please." The man corrected him.

Wyatt just nodded and began to follow him as the older man walked him through the place.

"This place is my pride and joy," the man narrated as they walked the perimeter of the building. He stopped and gestured to the stage where a small orchestra played slow music. "You happened to come in at the quiet time of night. Usually after midnight we slow it down and my daughter sings, but I gave her the night off tonight. She's a hard worker."

Wyatt continued to listen, not mentioning that he had heard almost every word of their exchange earlier.

"Why do you call it _The Mothership_?" he asked curiously about the bar's name.

"Ah, just a silly name I came up with," Cahill brushed off his question and Wyatt noted that.

Mr. Cahill led him to the bar, all the while greeting customers and old friends with handshakes and pats on the back. The bartender from earlier immediately came up to them once noticing Mr. Cahill.

"And this is Rufus Carlin, best bartender we've got."

Rufus nodded politely to him and Wyatt said, "we've met briefly," he held out his hand to him, "I'm Wyatt."

Rufus shook it and Mr. Cahill informed them, "we should have our new bartender by next week, Rufus, so you won't be manning the ship alone any longer."

"I don't mind it all that much," Rufus said but Wyatt could tell he absolutely minded doing all the work himself.

"We only have about four waitresses here, since the place is small and we don't serve much food." Cahill told Wyatt as he took the drink Rufus made him. "The one we have working tonight is Jiya, probably our best. She's very bright but feisty. Don't try to dog that one," he smirked at him and Wyatt resisted curling his hands into fist at the way he talked about his female employee. Wyatt also noticed out the corner of his eye Rufus also looked uncomfortable with his boss's words.

"Anyway, it's getting late, my wife will be mad I missed dinner again," Cahill said, finishing his drink and standing, "you start tomorrow. Eight o'clock."

Wyatt nodded again, "I'll be here, sir."

"Good man," Cahill patted his back and Wyatt watched him leave.

* * *

The next night Wyatt showed up to work on time, briefly greeting Rufus with a small wave before settling himself on the wall, near the entrance.

Cahill had told him to stay in that spot most of the night, but to let himself roam the place every once in awhile, just to keep an eye on things.

Most of the night passed and it was completely uneventful. Wyatt watched more and more men in suits try and unsuccessfully flirt with uninterested women. He watched the band play song after song and couples dance across the floor. Wyatt waited with narrowed eyes, trying to find anything out of the ordinary but nothing seemed out of place. People got drunk, some danced, they seemed to have a great time. He never even saw Mr. Cahill come in once. He must not be a very involved boss, Wyatt figured.

It was eventually midnight and the place slowed down. Most of the evening crowd had left, but many still remained, sitting in chairs, loudly talking and having drinks. Wyatt decided nothing strange was probably going to happen tonight so he made his way over to the bar to sit a minute.

He didn't notice the band players leave the stage or that the piano began playing notes but he did notice the voice that began to sing.

It was soft, sweet and did something funny to Wyatt's heart.

 _Something always brings me back to you  
It never takes too long  
No matter what I say or do  
I'll still feel you here till the moment I'm gone_

Wyatt turned around to watch the performance. He was pleasantly surprised to see it was the woman from yesterday, the boss's daughter. He could see her face more clearly now. High cheekbones, smooth pale skin, full lips and dark eyebrows to match her jet black hair. She was beautiful and her voice might have been the most amazing thing he had ever heard.

 _You hold me without touch  
You keep me without chains  
I never wanted anything so much than to drown in your love  
And not feel your rain_

He listened to every word, every breath, captivated at the woman that sat on a stool, crooning into a microphone.

 _Set me free, leave me be.  
I don't wanna fall another moment into your gravity  
Here I am, and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be.  
But you're on to me and all over me._

 _Oh, you loved me 'cause I'm fragile  
When I thought that I was strong  
But you touch me for a little while  
And all my fragile strength is gone_

As she went into the chorus again Wyatt tore his eyes away from her and turning back to Rufus he asked: "who _is_ she" but before Rufus could answer him he had already turned back on her. He was completely transfixed on how focused she seemed to be on the song, her eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed with emotion.

 _I live here on my knees  
As I try to make you see  
That you're everything I think I need here on the ground  
But you're neither friend nor foe  
Though I can't seem to let you go  
The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me down._

As she finished the song, her eyes opening, Wyatt thought he could see them glistening with tears but he couldn't be sure. Her eyes roamed the crowd, disappointment quickly taking over her features as she realized no one in the restaurant was really paying her any attention. Wyatt found himself loudly clapping from the bar, Rufus joining in and soon more people did. Wyatt felt his heart jump at the sight of her bright smile as she nodded and took a small bow.

Before he could even think, she was leaving the stage and bouncing over to the bar, sidling up next to him but not even sparing him a glance.

"How'd I do?" She leaned on the counter, meaning the question to be for Rufus.

"You know I think you're dynamite, lady," Rufus replied, making her laugh and swat at him playfully.

Wyatt was almost jealous of how close they seemed to be.

"You were incredible," he said from beside her, finally seeming to get her attention.

She turned her wide smile to him and he felt his heart do an unusual flip at the sight of it again. He liked her smile.

"Thank you!" She said brightly.

He was almost taken aback at her genuineness. She seemed nothing at all like the girl he had momentarily heard and seen flying past him yesterday, not a hint of her upset showing, as if it never happened.

Rufus gestured toward him, "this is Wyatt, our new doorman...person."

He nodded in confirmation, and greeted her formally, "Wyatt Logan, nice to meet you."

The woman held out her hand to shake his, "Lucy Preston."

He took her small hand in his.

Lucy felt a shiver run up her spine at the way he was looking at her. She was used to men looking at her a certain way, but his gaze was different. It was intense, but completely intriguing. She decided she liked it. His eyes were beautiful light pools of blue and when he grinned back at her, two dimples peeked out. He was gorgeous, Lucy thought, and with her luck, probably taken.

"Are you new here, Wyatt?" Lucy asked and he was used to that question.

"I am. I'm the person that throws people out if they get too rowdy." He told her.

"Good, we need one of those." Lucy laughed, taking the drink Rufus offered her, then turning back to him. "Where are you from?"

"Texas." At her surprise, he grinned.

"A Southern man," she nodded in approval, "did you use to throw people out of bars there too?"

He quickly tried to wave that off and not draw attention to his past. "Honestly, I'd rather not talk about that."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized with a frown, placing her hand on his arm.

He felt electricity at her touch and didn't want her to move her hand. But she did. "It's alright," he reassured her with another smile, "I'd just rather leave the past behind."

She nodded, going quiet in the room full of loud noises and even louder people.

He let his eyes drift over the bar, not forgetting he was on the job and when he saw no strange activity, he looked back at her. "So, you're a singer?"

"Nothing gets past you," she teased, "but yes. One day I'll be on Broadway."

He remembers her father's words, his lack of faith and discouragement to her the night before. Wyatt tipped his hat to her, giving her a wink, "I have no doubts, ma'am."

Normally, Lucy would hate for anyone to call her ma'am, it made her sound old. But coming out of his mouth? She didn't mind it so much.

"I hope to see your show one day," Wyatt commented sincerely, "your voice is beautiful. Broadway'd be lucky to have you."

At his words, she felt pleased. It was so refreshing to have someone tell her she could do something, instead of the opposite. Rufus had always been complimentary of her singing but this felt different somehow.

Lucy found herself blushing. "Thank you."

Wyatt stood up from leaning against the bar. "Well, I should probably get back to my station. It was real nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Likewise," Lucy smiled, still reeling happily from his words.

She watched him walk back to the wall and turned back to Rufus, her eyes wide. "Who _is_ he?" she asked.

Rufus grinned at the same words being repeated back to him. He began to clean up the bar after his last customer stumbled away. It was finally closing time. Grabbing a rag and cleaning the counter, he answered Lucy, "I don't know, but he sure has a thing for you."

Lucy was facing Rufus now but kept wanting to glance back at Wyatt. He was different in a refreshing kind of way and she yearned to learn more about him. "Do you know anything about him?" she asked Rufus.

"About as much as you do," Rufus told her.

She sighed, tapping her nails against the wood counter. She guessed she'd just have to find out more about him herself. He had seemed interested in her and she hoped he would ask her to go to dinner or something, maybe a movie. She loved movies.

Lucy sighed, now feeling how tired she was. Gathering her stuff together, she made her way to the door, waving goodbye to Rufus and Jiya, who were just finishing up cleaning tables. Rufus closed almost every night and sometimes walked Jiya home.

She brushed past Wyatt, smiling at him brightly as she told him goodnight.

"Can I walk you home?" he asked suddenly and she let herself get excited. She usually hated walking home alone. Her father had always said he'd have a car waiting for her but she refused, stating that she could take care of herself.

"I-" she almost told him she could walk herself home but she realized this could be a great opportunity to get to know him, "yes."

Wyatt smiled, holding the door open for her and following when she started walking in the direction of her apartment.

"So the ma'm thing must be from Texas, huh?" she asked, making conversation as they walked, the only light being the moon and street lamps.

"I guess so, I was always taught to have manners," he answered her.

"I don't think I've ever met a Southern gentleman before," she shot him a bright smile.

"Yes ma'am," he chuckled, aware he was completely charming her.

She blushed at his gaze and looked down. She didn't know what it was about him that intrigued her so, but she fully intended to find out.

* * *

Over the next couple of weeks as Wyatt began to get more acquainted with his co-workers, he had spent most of his time looking out for suspicious activity from strangers in the club, barely noticing anything. Other than the nights that Lucy sang, it was pretty dull and redundant.

Friday nights Wyatt would normally make his way toward the bar to chat with Rufus about the new upcoming Star Wars movie. It was coming out in a few weeks and they had been planning to go see it together. Wyatt already knew that making friends in a place he probably wouldn't be in for long was a bad idea, but he had to hang out with _somebody._ Better Rufus than Lucy since he also knew falling for her would be bad.

Wyatt had noticed Mr. Cahill slip in with some buddies or associates of his earlier that night and were currently sitting in their regular booth up front, probably talking business. So he decided it probably wasn't a good idea to go up to the bar and take a break from his job in front of his boss.

Around midnight, when Lucy got ready to head onstage and sing her usual Friday night set, Wyatt eyed her father's table and the men were gone. Lucy didn't seem to react or even care but Wyatt felt it was rude of him to leave while his daughter was about to perform. Looking around the club to see if Mr. Cahill was walking around, he didn't see him or any of his drinking buddies and made his way to Rufus who was serving his last couple of drinks.

"Hey," he said to Rufus, taking his usual seat, "where'd Mr. Cahill go?"

Rufus handed a woman her drink and shook his head when she didn't tip. "He most likely went in the back to his office. They always have meetings in there."

"Meetings about what? The club?"

"I guess so." Rufus shrugged, uninterested and wanting to talk about Star Wars.

"It just seems strange that he doesn't stay to watch his daughter's performance." Rufus didn't catch on to why Wyatt was so concerned.

"Well, you know by now that Lucy's always gotta sing the same stuff. Her dad won't let her sing anything she wants."

Wyatt nodded, silent as Lucy began her first song. He let her sweet sound fill his ears and sighed, hoping he didn't have his goofy grin on his face.

Rufus served his last customer, finally ready to talk about the movie they were going to see and then started quietly laughing at the look on his friends face. When Wyatt didn't notice, Rufus threw his rag at him and hit him in the face, causing him to laugh harder at Wyatt's startled expression.

"Dude, you are digging her so hard right now," Rufus laughed.

Wyatt threw the towel back and as Rufus caught it, he sighed.

After Lucy finished her set, Wyatt watched from his position by the door as the rest of the people filed out and he got ready to lock the door behind them. Rufus was at the bar, muttering to himself about cleaning someone's mess and thanking god that Flynn worked tomorrow.

Flynn was the new bartender that Mr. Cahill had told Wyatt about when he first started working. He came two weeks after Wyatt was there and Wyatt didn't know a thing about him yet and they had both been there a month now. Flynn was a tall man, dark hair, always unhappy looking. He could tell that Flynn served in the war and respected him for that, but kept his distance. Not every soldier had the same experience and he suspected that Flynn may have had a more rough one than he. Flynn was a quiet guy and didn't really branch out to any of his co-workers. He just did his job, smiled when he needed to, cleaned his station and went home. Wyatt sometimes would catch Flynn looking strangely at him and then he would continue to look around the club, probably assessing how many drinks people have had. Rufus had told Wyatt just the night before that maybe they should invite him to see the film with them but Wyatt advised against it because Flynn was an older man and would probably look to that film as being silly and a waste of time.

Wyatt and Rufus were going to walk home with Lucy that night since Jiya went home with another waitress and while they waited for her to get changed in her dressing room, they sat and chatted about anything.

"So how often do Mr. Cahill and his associates meet up like that?" Wyatt wanted to know.

"Oh, every Friday." Rufus answered.

"Really? I never noticed."

"They don't always have the meetings here. Not sure why they even have to do it every week either. That's a lot of business meetings for just one club." Rufus commented.

"Yeah, it is." Wyatt agreed, lost in thought.

"You know," Rufus leaned in, his voice lower as if sharing a secret, "one time when I was taking garbage out and they were here for one of their meetings, I heard a guy screaming near where his office is." Wyatt's eyebrows shot up in surprise, Rufus continued. "At first I thought it was fake and in my head but then I heard another scream and that was it. Dead silence. Sometimes Jiya and I would joke that Mr. Cahill killed someone but we try not to anymore in case Lucy heard us. We didn't want to upset her, even if it is a joke."

"What if it's not a joke?" Wyatt blurted, not as amused as Rufus currently was by the story.

"Dude, no way." Rufus shook his head, "I mean, Mr. Cahill seems like an intimidating guy, but not enough to kill someone!"

Wyatt decided he should keep his thoughts on this to himself. He waved it off. "Yeah, you're right."

Rufus nodded, glad to be done with that subject. "Where is Lucy anyway? She's usually out by now."

Wyatt noticed that too, she never took this long. Then he let himself worry. What if something happened? "Let's go look for her."

Rufus followed his quick strides to the backstage area and Wyatt knocked on her dressing room door. "Lucy?"

When they didn't receive an answer, Wyatt's worry increased.

"Where the hell did she go?" Rufus wondered.

"I don't know," Wyatt said, "oh, let's check the bathroom!"

"I don't want to go in the women's restroom," Rufus protested. Wyatt refrained from rolling his eyes, reminding him that it would be empty anyway and urging him to follow as he headed toward the restrooms.

Wyatt knocked on the door again, hoping she was in there. "Lucy? It's Wyatt, you in there?"

Again not hearing an answer back, Wyatt pushed open the door anyway just to check and found Lucy, still in her dress, on the dirty bathroom floor in tears.

While relieved she was alright, he now had worry as he saw the makeup smeared on her face. Heading over to her, he crouched down, Rufus next to him. "Lucy, what happened? What's wrong?"

Lucy took a second to answer, wiping the fresh tears leaking out at their worried faces. "I'm sorry, I forgot you were waiting for me."

"It's ok, Luce, what's wrong? Did someone hurt you?" Rufus asked gently.

Wyatt felt his blood boil at the thought. If anything happened to her he would find that person and kill them.

"No, no, nothing like that happened," she was fast to reassure them and Wyatt calmed.

"Then what happened?" Rufus asked.

"Nothing," she exclaimed, "my dad is just… tough on me sometimes."

"What did he say to you?" Wyatt inquired, but he had a feeling he already knew what the answer would be.

Rufus had grabbed some napkins from the sink and handed them to her to wipe her face. She smiled gratefully and even though she looked so sad, she still looked so lovely to Wyatt. They both sat down next to her, Rufus on her right, Wyatt on her left.

"You know, the usual," she told them bitterly, "I'll never be on Broadway, I'll never make it out of this town, I'm not good enough."

"You are good enough," Rufus comforted her, patting her leg, "trust me, I hear you every night almost. I've never heard anyone as good as you. Well," Rufus paused, "except for Josephine Baker."

Lucy smiled at his attempt to make her laugh, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Thank you, Rufus. It's nice to have your support."

Wyatt sat there, angry at her father for making her cry but upset by her tears. He never liked to see women cry.

"Hey," he got her attention and she lifted her head to look at him. "Don't let his words get to you like this. You're amazing and he would be a fool not to recognize that. Maybe he's afraid to lose business if he loses you."

Lucy was surprised. "I never thought of that."

Wyatt was sure to tell her the rest of his thoughts. "That doesn't mean you should let yourself stay where you're unhappy. He would be fine without you. As long as there are people wanting to get drunk after work, he'll still have _The Mothership._ You do what you need to to make your dreams come true."

Lucy's eyes were brighter now, more hopeful at his words and he felt good for doing that. She deserved to know she was good enough.

"Thank you, Wyatt." She whispered happily, taking his hand and leaning her head back onto Rufus's shoulder. "You guys are good to me."

Wyatt repressed the need to kiss her right in front of Rufus and decided to enjoy the moment with his friends.

The next few weeks passed by fairly quickly for Wyatt.

He continued his job easily, the only times he ever had to actually _do his job_ being when two or more drunk men would start to instigate a fight and he had to break them up.

Wyatt kept his eyes and ears open though, especially around his boss. So far there were only two times that his boss came into work and only one time he could get close enough to him to eavesdrop into his conversation.

He had been walking around the building when he spotted Cahill walking into the lounge, two big men in tow. He silently watched Cahill examine the room and then make his way to a table once spotting who he was looking for.

Wyatt had began to try and discreetly make his way toward the booth Cahill and his men were sitting at to hear but knew he couldn't due to looking suspicious. His commanding officer that sent him here informed him the moment that Cahill was suspicious of him, it was all over. So Wyatt hovered over many tables surrounding Cahill's, but never got close enough to hear anything.

The second time Cahill was in the building, Wyatt almost walked in on something by accident. It was closing time and he had been on his way to his locker to pick up his wallet in the break room when he suddenly froze at the quiet voices coming from the room. He knew Lucy was out by the bar chatting with Rufus, waiting for him to walk her home. It had become their thing now, him walking her home. Her apartment was a nice fifteen minute walk from here and his was further along but he would rather walk her home every night than her walk by herself, especially when he had to physically drag the few remaining incoherent drunk men outside the lounge. They always had a good time when walking. Sometimes they would talk, sometimes he would listen to her talk, and sometimes they would walk in comfortable silence. Wyatt knew it was dangerous, how much time he was spending with Lucy. He knew he was quickly falling for her and he knew he had to try and back away before it got worse. He didn't know how much longer he'd be here in this town and if they could maintain a relationship. And what's worse, he didn't have a clue if she felt the same.

Once while they were walking he had asked why she wasn't dating someone.

"Because," he had reasoned, "there are always men in the lounge practically drooling at the sight of you."

She had swatted him at his teasing, but with a smile on her face. He loved that they could tease each other.

"I don't have time to date with someone right now," she told him that night, not noticing his face falling, "I've got to focus on my career."

Wyatt always suspected that she had feelings for him but never made a move or mentioned it because of her dreams to be on Broadway. He didn't want to get in the way of that or hold her back. It was better they stay friends, he had decided with a still conflicted heart.

When he had heard murmuring voices coming from the break room, Wyatt had stood still in the hallway, keeping his breathing steady so he wouldn't draw attention to himself. He quietly tried to move closer to the room to hear better but he couldn't make out anything, the voices were muffled.

He wasn't sure if he should risk a peek but he had to find out what was going on. Slowly inching his way toward the open space of the break room, he listened for voices again to find that they were still muffled. The voices have to be coming from Cahill's office, he figured, which was past the break room and in a small room behind a door that read Cahill's name. Walking into the break room, Wyatt made his way to the office, intending to find out what was going on.

As he got closer to the closed door, the voices became more clear and now he knew why he could hear them from the hallway. Cahill's voice was quiet but strong, but the man he was talking to was _not._

Wyatt listened in.

"...tired of your excuses, Tony. You're starting to get me angry and you know you don't want me angry." Wyatt recognized Cahill's voice.

Another voice spoke, "boss, I told you. The woman threw me off, I didn't know she was gonna be there."

"It doesn't matter, don't let her throw you off your game." Cahill again. "Just get the job done and get out of there. If you don't get it done tonight, I'll make sure that you're taken care of."

The room went quiet and Wyatt suspected that meant the man he had finished the discussion and he quickly but stealthily walked backwards, almost bumping into a smiling Lucy.

"Lucy!" he whispered, startled at her sudden presence. He hadn't even heard her sneak up on him. So much for a soldier. "What are you doing, I almost knocked you over!"

Lucy was amused at his state but when she noticed his lips form in a straight line, she got worried. "Wyatt, what's wrong? What happened?"

Wyatt, after leading them out of the building before Cahill could notice them, composed himself. "Nothing, I'm just really tired. And you startled me."

Lucy looked at him, knowing he wasn't telling her the truth but figured he probably would tell her when he was ready to talk about it. "Okay," she said.

Wyatt knew she knew he was lying. He couldn't tell her what he saw. How do you tell the woman you love that her father was most likely engaging in illegal activity? From what it sounded like, her father had his own men taking people out that did him wrong. But he couldn't think about that now, he had to get Lucy home first. They made their way through the lounge.

"Come on, let's go," he gently placed his hand on her back and they began to walk.

As usual, Lucy took the lead in talking about things like Broadway and what she would do when she finally got to New York. Normally, Wyatt would happily listen to the soothing sound of her voice but this time he was distracted. He kept thinking about what he had heard go on in Cahill's office. What was the man up to? He knew he was there as a doorman/bodyguard person, but that was only a cover up. His real job assigned to him was to spy on possible illegal activities happening in the workplace. His boss had received a few anonymous tips about the club's owner being engaged in suspicious activities. All of the intel Wyatt had gathered so far was started to point towards his boss being involved with a mob. Or even running one himself.

As Wyatt seemed to be lost in thought while walking Lucy home, she noticed and playfully nudged him on the shoulder with hers.

"Where are you right now?" she joked, making him look up.

It was dark out but the moonlight highlighted her face just right and Wyatt's thoughts immediately went out of his mind as his eyes clouded over and his mind was then consumed with thoughts of Lucy and what it would be like to kiss her red lips.

Before he could answer, they both looked up when they felt the raindrops. Lucy held her hand out to feel the drops on her skin, smiling up at the sky. She loved the rain.

Wyatt was looking at her, amazed at how enchanted she was with the light drizzle of rain.

When Lucy was a little girl and it would rain, she used to sit on her knees in her bed, watching the rain fall outside her window. The sound of the gentle tap-tap-tap on her window was soothing and could easily put her to sleep.

Smiling widely, Lucy looked back at Wyatt to find him watching her with a look in his eyes that gave her butterflies.

He opened his mouth to say something but suddenly there was a downpour. The rain fell down on them and when Lucy squeaked in surprise at her clothes getting soaked, Wyatt began to laugh.

Lucy shot him a glare at him laughing at her expense, but then began to laugh herself because he was also currently getting doused.

Wyatt, still laughing, offered her his arm and she took it willingly as they began to run the rest of the way to her place. He should've taken his car that night, but he preferred to walk.

Luckily, there had already been a couple of blocks away from her home yet that didn't stop the rain from drenching them both. Lucy unlocked the door to the apartment building as quickly as her shaky hands would let her and pushed inside the warm hallway, gesturing for him to follow.

He did and wished he hadn't. It was a short, narrow hallway that led to the stairs and now they were practically squished together, barely any air between them. The electricity between the two made the hairs on the back of Wyatt's neck stand up in anticipation. They had still been laughing at their stroke of luck with the rain but when Lucy noticed Wyatt's strange expression, her smile faltered.

"What's wrong?" she asked, wiping her wet hair out of her face.

Wyatt didn't let himself think. He put his hands on both sides of Lucy's face, and crushed his lips to hers. Lucy raised her eyebrows in surprise at this, but found herself pulling him closer.

Breathing a sigh of relief when she didn't pull away, Wyatt deepened the kiss, his hands going to her waist. Her lips were soft and pliant, and Wyatt couldn't get enough. He kissed her like it was the last time he would ever see her again, like she would be gone tomorrow. Lucy was completely wonderstruck, her knees trembling beneath her at the intensity of his kiss. This is what she had hoped for, wished for, but she never imagined it would feel like this. The butterflies in her stomach were fluttering wildly, her heart thumping madly in her chest as his lips caressed hers. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers running through his hair. He had surprised her with his kiss so much she stumbled backward into the wall and now he let his hands roam, over her face, over her stomach, her hips, and then again back to her face, holding her in place.

When he had finally pulled away, both gasping for air, she gazed into his eyes, the same eyes that had captivated her so much when she first met him.

"Wow," she breathed.

"Yeah," he agreed, worried she might feel differently about the kiss now that the moment was over.

But a smile slowly spread across her face and she moved forward to press her forehead against his. He smiled too and took her hands, placing both of them on his chest.

"You're amazing, you know that?" he told her, as infatuated with her as he had been the moment he first saw her sing.

"You're pretty amazing yourself," she replied, blushing under his gaze.

"I'm so smitten with you." He told her honestly, "I knew you were something special when I first heard your voice."

Lucy felt the butterflies flare up again at his sweet words and she put her hand on his cheek. "I've never met anyone like you before."

"I could say the same about you," he said. "I told myself I wouldn't get into another relationship but I couldn't help it."

"Such a nice moment and I'm sure I look like a mess," she scoffed, pushing her hair behind her ear, now realizing her makeup was probably smeared all over her face from the rain.

But he didn't care. "You're beautiful."

Smiling shyly, she reached up and kissed him again, a soft peck.

Lucy leaned into him, sighing happily as his arms went around her. Her cheek rested on his shoulder. They stood there for a moment, enjoying the quiet and the closeness. Finally, Lucy spoke, her voice muffled against his shoulder, shy. "Do you want to come up with me?"

Wyatt didn't answer right away, even though in his mind he was shouting YES, but he knew he shouldn't. "Lucy…"

Lucy pulled away, her face beet red. She couldn't look at him. He must think she was used to doing this kind of thing when in reality she had never invited a man up to her room.

"I-I shouldn't have asked," she stumbled with her words, embarrassed, "I just - well you -"

"Stop," Wyatt interrupted her rambling, inching closer to her to place his hand on her cheek.

His touch made her look him in the eyes.

"It's not that I _don't_ want to be with you in that way, because I _do_ , believe me." His grin made her heart flip and Lucy resisted kissing those lips again. "But not tonight. I want to take you out first."

"Oh," Lucy sighed, "of course. I'd love that."

He continued to smile at her and gestured toward the stairs, "would you like me to walk you up to your door?"

Lucy felt herself blush again. "No, I think I've got it from here. I'll see you tomorrow night?"

Wyatt stepped closer to her again and leaned down to kiss her, maybe lingering longer than he should've. It only made it harder for him to walk away. "See you tomorrow."

* * *

The next night Wyatt and Lucy spent so much time making eyes at each other it made it hard for Rufus to be happy for them.

"You're seriously starting to make me sick now," Rufus told Wyatt as he happily walked up to his usual spot and got ready to hear Lucy sing. "Something clearly happened between you two."

"Yeah, it did," Wyatt told his friend, "it shouldn't have, but it did."

"Why 'shouldn't have'?" Rufus asked.

Instead of the real reason, Wyatt told him, "because who knows when Lucy will finally get her big break and get on Broadway. She'll definitely find someone better in New York."

"Maybe not," Rufus said with a smirk, "maybe she'll want you to tag along."

Wyatt hadn't really thought of that and although he wasn't a big fan of the city, he wouldn't mind following Lucy just about anywhere. As they continued to chat and listen to Lucy's singing, Wyatt glanced at the door and shot up so fast from his seat when he spotted his boss and Lucy's father already staring at him with disapproval. Wyatt bravely made his way over to his boss and approached him with his hand out to shake. Mr. Cahill did not take it.

"I was just taking a five, sir," Wyatt told him.

Mr. Cahill looked at him strangely and simply walked towards his office with his guys in tow. Wyatt did a double take when he noticed the other bartender Flynn a part of the group. What was that about?

As he watched the group of men disappear, Wyatt went over to Rufus to tell him what he just saw.

"Why would Flynn be with them?" Rufus was confused.

"Not sure," Wyatt answered, looking his friend in the eye, "but I'm going to take the garbage out."

Rufus nodded and grabbed the trash bag from behind the counter, tying it up and giving it to Wyatt, understanding what he was going to try to do.

When Wyatt turned the corner to where the dumpster was, he tried his best to steady his breathing so he could hear anything. It wasn't a great spot, he thought, considering there was a brick wall in between them and he wasn't even sure if he was far enough to Cahill's office. Maybe he should try going to his locker. _Might need to come up with a plan in case I get caught_ , Wyatt thought to himself, _something about needing my wallet._

Wyatt entered the lounge again, nodding to Rufus as he looked around for any sign of Cahill. Seeing none of the men, or Flynn, he made his way quietly to his locker. When he got there he stood in the corner, listening in.

"...always have to have that pad with you?" a voice Wyatt didn't recognize was asking.

"I use it to take orders," Wyatt knew that voice belonged to Flynn.

"And yet," the other voice said, "when we catch you off the clock, you have it. Do you work for another bar we don't know about?"

It was quiet. Flynn wasn't talking.

"I guess he's not going to answer," another voice said. Presumably these were the big guys Cahill always went around with.

"We have other ways of getting you to talk, sir," Cahill's voice spoke. "You just let me know if you want us to do that."

It was silent again. Wyatt waited for Flynn to come up with something, anything.

"Fine. I kept it because I got a few girls phone numbers, ok?" Flynn finally said and Wyatt was impressed.

He waited for someone's response. Then Cahill spoke again, his voice darker and deeper than before. "I don't believe you, but it's not much of my concern right now. Just get him out of here."

Wyatt knew that was his cue to hurry and get the hell out of the locker room. When he made it back to his usual station, he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall as if he had been there the whole time, pretending to ignore Rufus staring at him, wanting answers.

Mr. Cahill was heading toward him, toward the door to leave with his guys but Wyatt acknowledged that Flynn was nowhere to be found. Did they kill him? Or did they just let him out of some back door? He nodded respectfully to Cahill as they walked out and closed the door behind them.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to wait until the night was over to tell Rufus what he heard. But Rufus informed him that it was his night to take Jiya home and he couldn't tell him tomorrow because Flynn was working. Wyatt wanted to scream that Flynn might not be working at all, but he kept it to himself and waited for Lucy impatiently.

"Hey," Lucy walked up, startling him from his thoughts. "Woah, did I scare you again? I really have to walk louder or something. How do you walk louder though? Do I just stomp to let you know I'm coming?"

"Ready to go?" Wyatt interrupted Lucy's rambling, ready to get home and...do what? Tell his real boss about his fake boss? He had no proof of anything happening, he just had a weird hunch. _Better keep it to myself until I can find out more,_ he thought.

"Yeah," Lucy answered, wondering why he was acting strange. "What's up with you? You look like you've been through something." Then she paused, took his arm, concerned, "oh, did you have like a weird flashback or something?"

"What?" Wyatt asked, "no, no. I'm just thinking about things."

"Okay," Lucy said, following him out the door as he locked the place up. "Do you want to tell me those things?"

They began to walk and even as concerned as Lucy was about him, she looped her arm through his. Wyatt smiled over at her at the natural feeling of it. "No, it's not important."

"If you say so," she shrugged, and then changed the subject. "Are you still taking me to the movies tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course," he said, excited to finally take her somewhere even if it was as lame as the movies.

"What are we going to see? Please don't say Star Wars," she begged.

He was going to say Star Wars. "Why not?" he fake whined.

"You've already seen it and I don't care about aliens in space, I'd much rather see a romantic film."

"It's about war in space," he muttered, "and there is romance in it!"

"There is?" she's surprised.

"Kinda. I mean, there's something going on between Princess Leia and Han Solo. And maybe even Luke Skywalker." Wyatt and Rufus had been talking about how awesome the movie was for days.

Lucy thought for a moment. "Fine. If we see it then I get to choose where we eat."

Wyatt nodded, taking his hand out to shake hers, "deal."

Lucy just intertwined their fingers.

"'Luke, I am your father,'" Lucy said in a deep voice, giggling.

Wyatt was so smug. "That's not exactly the line, but I knew you'd love it!"

"Ok, Mr. Knows-It-All-Because-I-Saw-It-Twice!" Lucy squealed, "I'm already ready for another one!"

"Are you still hungry?" Wyatt asked his date.

"Nooo, I'm so full," Lucy groaned, rubbing her belly as they headed to his car.

"I figured as much, you ate the rest of my popcorn even _after_ you already had your own!" he teased.

She smacked his arm, "are you calling me fat?"

"Far from it," he chuckled and she laughed, swinging their arms as they got to his vehicle.

"Ma'am," he said as he opened the door for her to get in.

"Why, thank you, sir," she said in a fake southern accent.

Wyatt was delighted at how well the date was going and was anticipating the rest of it.

When he got to Lucy's apartment, she timidly invited him up, her peppy energy from earlier replaced with shyness. She informed him as they made their way up to her apartment and began to kiss heatedly that she had never "done this before" and Wyatt reassured her that they didn't have to do anything she didn't want or wasn't ready for.

But she said she was and that she wanted him and he was happy to give her anything in the world. Luckily, that "anything" was him. They fell onto her bed, limbs tangling, clothes being shed quickly and Wyatt made sure to have protection for this night and took his time with her, making her feel comfortable and wanted.

She fell asleep soon after, bundled up close to him and he appreciated her warmth, his eyes wide open after having perhaps the best night of his life. Wyatt held Lucy close, thanking god or whoever it was up there for this woman. He was surprised to hear Lucy's voice.

"Thinking about me?" she asked, her voice clear. He had thought she was sleeping but her eyes were just closed in content.

"Thinking about Princess Leia," he sighed dreamily.

When Lucy sat up and started pounding his naked chest with her small fists, he laughed and soon she was laughing and they were at it again.

The next morning the sunlight was so bright through Lucy's sheer curtains that Wyatt woke up early, almost upset to find that Lucy made her way to the other side of the bed overnight.

He scooted up next to her and smoothed the back of her hair down. She must move a lot in her sleep but he never noticed. He did notice that he slept better than he had in maybe years. When she turned around at the feeling of his hand brushing her hair, her eyes were still closed and she looked like he felt, peaceful.

He didn't want to wake her but he couldn't keep his hands to himself. His hands roamed her face, touching very lightly, and with his bad breath suddenly on his mind, backed away and found her bathroom to brush his teeth.

When he got back to her room, she was still asleep. Smiling at her naked body just covered in a sheet, he crawled into the bed and decided to go back to sleep.

He woke up a few hours later to something pecking his back. He turned around to see Lucy awake, her eyes bright as always, staring up at him. "Morning, my Han Solo."

"I think I'm more of a Luke Skywalker, you know, the reluctant hero."

"Was he reluctant? And I felt more chemistry with Han and Leia."

"How about you just be my Lucy and I'll be your Wyatt?" Wyatt asks, not wanting to get into another discussion of Star Wars, despite how much he loved it.

"Sure. You'll be mine and I'll be yours," she agreed and they jokingly shook on it.

"We're sick," Wyatt said.

Lucy wrapped her arm around him, getting comfortable. "I think we're cute."

"What do you want to do today?" he asked, rubbing her arm with his thumb.

"I like it here." She said, "it's nice. Good view."

"Of what?"

"The wall."

"Let's just stay here today then." Wyatt decided, happy with this.

They were both quiet for a while and Lucy started poking his stomach, bored. Wyatt was going to ask if they should get up and eat but Lucy spoke first.

"We can try that thing we did last night?"

He definitely wasn't going to say no to that.

When his stomach growled later, Lucy patted it and got up, still naked but comfortable in front of him. "Come on, I'll make you breakfast."

As they sat at her table, talking about anything and everything, Lucy asked about any previous women he had been with.

"Just one, really," he told her, "before I went off to war."

Knowing that he didn't want to talk about his Vietnam days, she continued to ask about the woman. "What was she like?"

"Not like you at all," he smiled and she didn't know if she should feel good about that or not. She thought to herself that she should, she was his one of a kind.

"So you mean to say I'm better?" she teasingly asked him.

"Well yeah, she broke my heart," Wyatt shrugged.

Lucy felt bad now. "I'm sorry to bring it up."

"It's alright," he reassured her, taking a sip of his juice she got for him. "It's long over. I'm in a much better place now."

She smiled at him, her heart warming. She reached out, pulling him towards her, and kissed him.

"Yeah, you've got Rufus and me now," she told him, "and hey, maybe my dad can find you a better paying job, he knows a lot of people." Lucy knew how much a doorman got paid, as her father repeatedly liked to remind her that the business would be hers one day. "Maybe one of his business buddies he's always hanging out with. My poor mom says he's with them more than her."

"What is it that those guys do anyway?" Wyatt wanted to change the subject and not get into this, but she had brought it up and he had to find out more if he could.

"I'm not entirely sure," Lucy answered then laughed, "you know, for years my dad has taught me what this and that job is in the lounge so I'll know how to hire people when I inherit it but I never really asked about those guys. I guess I just assumed they do whatever my dad needs them to. I suppose one day they'll work for me if I don't make it out of here."

The thought of Lucy having these men around her made him sick. He wasn't sure either what exactly it was they did but he was almost positive it wasn't legal.

"Nah, you won't have to work with those guys, they're bad news."

Wyatt internally scolded himself. Why did he let that slip.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, curious.

"Nothing, I don't mean anything." Wyatt shook his head.

"Wyatt," Lucy smiled playfully, bumping his leg with hers, "tell me."

"I just, no - I just don't think they're the best guys to be around." Wyatt scrambled for a better explanation.

"What do you mean? Have they said something to you?" Lucy wondered.

"No, they haven't said anything," Wyatt was desperate to change the subject now. "Can we talk about something that's not work related?"

Lucy was stubborn. "I want to know what you mean! If they ever said something to you or Rufus or Jiya or anyone, I'd like to know so I can handle it!"

"It's nothing!" Wyatt blurted, "they just give me a bad vibe is all!"

Lucy was quiet for a moment. "Did Rufus say something to you about my dad?"

Wyatt was too quick to answer. "No."

"Whatever he says, it's not true. My dad may be an ass sometimes, but he's still a good person," Lucy defended her father and Wyatt felt himself sinking to the ground. This wasn't good. "He gave people in that bar jobs when they had nothing to show for it. Now look at them, they're professionals. _He_ did that."

"Ok, Lucy, I never said anything about your dad," Wyatt tried defending himself because he could see her getting irritated.

"I know what Rufus and Jiya have said about my father, you know. I overheard them talking about it and immediately ordered them to stop or they would lose their jobs. I would never have them fired because they're my friends but if anyone else heard them talking like that, I know my dad would find out and fire them." Lucy explained, "so I definitely don't want to hear you talking about it or inquiring about it because that would mean you're at risk of losing your job too."

"I understand," Wyatt told her, wondering why Rufus never told him that Lucy had heard them talking about her father. "But I never said anything about him."

"I know you were thinking about it," Lucy said, eyes narrowing, "what is it that you think his guy friends do?"

"I -"

"Tell me." Lucy's stare was hard and he didn't want to lie to her but he knew this was going in a very bad direction.

"I'm not sure of what they do, but from what I have heard it sounds like your dad hires them to threaten people for some reason."

" _What?"_

Wyatt began to panic. "I never said it was true! It's just what I've heard! I haven't gotten actual proof of it."

"Proof?" Lucy was off the chair now, standing with her arms crossed angrily, the blissful moments of the day gone. "You think my dad hired those men to hurt people?"

"I don't know," Wyatt felt defeated. Lucy was smart and stubborn, she wasn't going to let this go.

"My father would never hurt anyone, ever." Lucy's voice was so harsh and Wyatt frankly was really surprised at how much she defended him considering how awful her father made her feel from time to time.

"Lucy, please, let's just forget about this and maybe go bowling or something?" He tried changing the subject one last time.

Lucy stared at the floor, not letting him see her face. "Actually, I think you should just leave."

 _What?_

"What?" he repeated his thought.

"Leave, please," she said, still not looking at him.

"But...why? I never said anything, it was just a thought!"

"Wyatt," she looked up at him now, her voice a small whisper and her eyes no longer bright, "please go."

At her last plea, he knew he had to go. As much as he wanted to stand there and talk about something else and be as cheerful as they had been all morning, it was over. He had screwed up. He didn't expect her to be so protective of her father. It was a shock, he thought, but I guess when it comes to family, that happens.

Wyatt dragged his way to her door and glancing at her sad figure one more time, left.

On his drive home he thought about ways to fix it. His thoughts battled in his head about getting her back or just leaving it be since she would probably go off to Broadway eventually and he would have to leave for his next job after this one. It was better off this way, he knew, but still felt all the feelings he had for Lucy swirling around in his mind and heart.

Parking his car, he got his keys out and unlocked the door.

Before he could even take two steps, he felt something hard and cool hit him on the side and then everything turned black.


End file.
